Only By Death

"If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."

Matthew 5:29-30
 

God does not want you to sacrifice your body one piece at a time. What He is after is the alignment of your will to His 100% of the time.

They way we use our eyes and our hands is a public demonstration of just how out of alignment we are. This becomes so obvious to us that we grow deeply offended at our own state and we get frustrated enough to even consider cutting off that part of us which offends us and God.

What Jesus is pointing us toward with this shocking illustration is not a part by part process for human reform.  He is saying that nothing less than public, permanent death can end the battle of our will and God’s will. To live His will we must be willing to see our will publicly die and His will publicly live.

Fortunately for us this death of the human will already took place and all we have to do each day is believe we have already died and are now living God’s will in Jesus.

Paul put it like this in Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

The Christian life is not a piece by piece, part by part human sacrifice.

It is a once and for all death and ressurrection in Christ. Can you see this?

Your death with Christ on Calvary should be as clear as it would be to you to look down and see where one of your hands was cut off because it offended you and God. If Jesus’ death is not that clear to you, look again to the Cross and see not just His public death but yours.

Now seeing yourself dead to sin and alive to God, live the will of God in union with Christ who lives in you day by day.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

A Plan For Peace

 

"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You,

Because he trusts in You."
Isaiah 26:3

“Whatever gets your attention gets you.”   This simple statement carries a tremendous power because it is true for all of us.  There is nothing more important to evaluate in our lives than what gets most of our attention.

Attention  becomes even more powerful when attention is combined with trust.   Attention can be mixed with many forces for good or evil, but attention with trust is the greatest of all  human forces.

Giving something or someone one’s attention is one thing.  Giving attention and trust is another much more powerful thing. In fact, there is nothing more precious that we can give to another person than our attention and trust.  

This is why Jesus told people who wanted to do the works of God that they needed to believe on the One He had sent.  To believe is to give one’s attention and trust and this is what God wants us to work at toward Jesus moment by moment.

Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”

Jesus answered and said to them,

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

John 6 :28-29

The single most significant thing I can do to cooperate with God day by day and  be kept in perfect peace by God in the process is to give my undivided attention to God in Christ with growing trust.  The quality of my inner life will be determined by giving my attention with trust to Jesus moment by moment. The quality of my love will also depend on my attention and trust in Jesus.

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”  John 7:37-38

We cannot really know what a new year may bring to our day to day lives.  What we can know is how to plan our peace for any new year.  We can simply plan on being kept at peace by God as we give Jesus our attention with increasing trust moment by moment and day by day.
Make paying attention to Jesus with increasing trust your plan for being kept in perfect peace at all times this year and every year.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

OUR FATHER--- Squeeze!

OUR FATHER
Squeeze!

One of my wife’s dearest friends is in the process of seeing her dear mom leave this world.  Pam also said goodbye to her mom this year.  Pam sent her friend these words of encouragment and comfort about OUR FATHER.

“As OUR FATHER gathers your mom to her true home, I am 100% confident that He will give you the comfort and strength that you will need,
And your needs will clock in at one moment at a time, only.

The entire essence of our  EverlastingTrue Vine will pass
into the receptive branch of your life, one moment at a time.  That is the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ. You will be amazed at the comfort
and thoughts He will whisper into your mind, heart, emotions. Yes, there is pain. But there is equal comfort from Him. Hang on to His hand
tightly and do not let go not even for a moment.

I remember my dad telling me to SQUEEZE his finger as hard as the pain hurt.  I was just 5 years old, sitting in his lap at the dentist, having
a tooth pulled. He told me I could never hurt him no matter how hard I squeezed. I am sure our Lord inspired him to tell me that. I was so
scared, but my dad was holding me and I could hold his finger and SQUEEZE!!!

Hold onto Jesus' finger and SQUEEZE however hard it may hurt, my friend.”

God does not offer us answers to all of our questions during times of pain, but He does invite us all to “SQUEEZE” and be comforted.
 

A Good Father

No good father will ever raise his children to live as permanent victims of the evil behavior of others. A good father will teach his children to rise above evil and live free of all barriers and injustice suffered at the hands of evil men and women.

Politicians and people who want to manipulate us to support them permanently will always want us to see ourselves as permanent victims of permanent evil so we will vote for them to keep them in power to permanently protect us. It is to their advantage that we remain victims under their control and protection.  True freedom is not in their vocabulary.
 .
A good father will always tell his children to flee from those who only want to feed from their pain and gain control over their future.
A good father will weep over the injustice but he will never leave his child living the life of a victim.

God, our perfect and permanent Father in heaven, would never want any of his children to live as victims of their past or live in the hope of human protection instead of His protection.  God frees all of His children to be free indeed.

To all who have been victimized and suffered injustice at the hands of men Jesus says: “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32  Victimization is real but freedom given by the Father in Jesus is our permanent state.

For a Christian to live as a victim is to deny the kind of Father we truly have and reject the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus suffered at the hands of evil men but He never saw himself as a victim.

Disciples of Jesus make no victims and never live as victims.  Doing this they are like Jesus.

Bud McCord

Abide International

Neither Toil Nor Spin

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”  Matthew 6:28-30 The way to human beauty is not through toil or spin.  The way is through rest and receiving the beauty the Father sends for us. The human pursuit of the beautiful life is written into our DNA.  We know that humans should be the most beautiful of all of God’s creation.  So, we toil and spin until we are weary and exhausted.  In our pursuit of beauty we literally wear ourselves down to the place that we can do nothing but quit in defeat and dizziness. It is in this moment called quitting that the very first light of God’s original plan can take root in us.  We finally see we were not originally created to toil and spin for beauty.  We were created to rest and receive beauty from the Father.   We were created to believe God will send that which can and will make us beautiful. if we will simply believe and receive by grace the beauty the Creator has sent for us the toil and spin can stop.  The human beauty God sent for us all is Jesus. Jesus said in John 6 that the work God wants from us is  to believe in Him. Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”  Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”  John 6:28-29 The world in which we live is filled with toil and spin.  It is through this toil and spin process that we are left weary and heavy laden.  It is though the toil and spin that we finally hear Jesus saying  “Come to Me and I will give you rest.” Tired of toil and spin?  Isn’t it time to rest and receive the beauty God sent in Jesus?   Bud McCord Abide International

When Our Heart Speaks

"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45

We spend our entire lives without personally seeing inside our own physical heart.  We know our heart is there and it is critical to our survival but we have a hard time knowing how our physical heart really is doing.  Our heart, however, has a way of letting us know when it is really sick.  Usually the message the sick heart sends stops our world and makes us pay attention to our heart.

Most people also know they have a spiritual heart, but they do not know how it tells them when it is sick.  They do not know the spiritual heart speaks.

To know the condition of our spiritual heart, we simply have to listen to what comes out of our mouth.  If evil comes out of our mouth we know our inner, hidden spiritual heart is very sick.  If good comes out of our mouth we know our spiritual heart is filled with God’s love.

Evil is anything that I think, feel or do that gives me permission to stop loving others.  When I hear words coming from my mouth that give me permission to hate, ignore, condemn or criticize others, I can know my spiritual heart is having a heart attack.

When our physical heart speaks through weakness, pain or a heart attack,  we must stop and pay complete attention because our life is at stake.  When something evil comes out of our mouths we must stop and pay complete attention because love is at stake.

Learn to listen to the voice of your body to know your physical heart and live.
Learn to listen to the words of your mouth to know your spiritual heart and love

Bud McCord

Abide International

"Like the Dew..."

 “Like the dew…”

God says, "I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily." Hosea 14:5 

”Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” Luke 12:27


It is amazing how gentle God is willing to be in our lives!  Meditate on how the Lord wants to gently  influence you on a daily basis.  Think of the kind of power one must have to be so gentle!

As you try to influence other people are you able to be as gentle as the “dew” and simply believe your continous and daily kindness and gentleness will make the difference?  Are you so convinced of the power of love that you do not need to force yourself into view to influence?

The next time you are tempted to say  “Where is God?”, be sure to check for the gentleness of God which is like the dew.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Surprising Love

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 

John 13:3-5  

We often think that being a disciple of Jesus is a call to do things that are big and important in the eyes of others.  We think people need to see really big and important things if they are believe in God’s love.

In reality to be a disciple of Jesus is to be as He is in us day by day and moment by moment. Jesus never looked for the big and important things to do. Jesus looked for ways to surprise people with the reach God’s love.

Jesus looked for people around Him who needed love and He touched them.  Jesus noticed people with dirty feet because that is where the love of God needed to touch and bring cleansing, surprising love.  To wash people’s feet is to surprise them with the reach of God’s love.

As disciples we are called to do more than imitate the life of Jesus.  We are called to surprise people with Jesus’ continuing presence in the world in us and through us.  We are to be His hands on dirty feet not just our hands on dirty feet.

 Have you surprised anyone lately with the touch of Jesus hands?  If not, you may be simply imitating Jesus instead of living Jesus.

Surprise someone with the love of Jesus that abides in you today.  Look down for dirty feet not up for power.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Love is Forever

The most abundant resource in the universe is pure, Divine love.  There is no shortage of love in the universe and there never will be a shortage.  God is forever and God is forever love.  Love does not have to win, it has never lost and never will.

At any moment when we as humans love as God would have us love, we are cooperating with the eternal.  No act of love goes unnoticed by God and no act of love is ever forgotten by God.  Love is forever.

“And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” Matthew 10:42

To believe in Jesus is experience firsthand our eternal, personal connection to God’s forever love.  To be loved by Jesus more and more deeply is to be drawn deeper and deeper into eternal life and love.

Anyone who is deeply loved by Jesus will also begin to love others more deeply. Being continuously loved by Jesus draws us little by little into the conviction that love that originates in God through Christ is the source of eternal life and this love must be shared with others. Disciples know that they exist to love.

The perfecting of our love in Christ becomes the goal of all true discipleship because discipleship is not just preparation for today, Discipleship is preparation to love forever.

 

Bud McCord

Abide Internationa

Illusions

The sensation we feel when we discover we have put our faith in an illusion is deeply disturbing and life changing.  Anyone who passes through a disillusion can become a cynic and completely incapable of exercising faith except with a long list of guarantees attached.

Focusing on Jesus will not produce a disillusion.  Jesus said “Whoever sees me sees the Father.”  With this simple statement Jesus was either telling the pure truth or lying in order to create a horrible illusion.  With these words Jesus invites humanity to look to Him to see God.  He guarantees His claim with His life.

Focusing on Jesus moment by moment will never leave a human disillusioned.  Jesus is God made visible and available for us and among us.  Jesus does not offer a list of guarantees.  He is the guarantee.  He is not an illusion.

Jesus invites especially the disillusioned to believe again.

Bud McCord

Abide International

Be Good At Love

If you want to be good at anything, be good at love.  Love is the only human endeavor that lasts.  We were made to be good at love.

Success may look like control of circumstances, but love is success.  Jesus dying on the cross was not an attempt to control His unpleasant circumstances created by the Romans and the religious leaders of His day.  His death was a demonstration of the love He came to deliver.

Success may look like accumulation of money or power, but love is success.  Jesus died penniless and nude on a cross.  Even so, there was never a moment in human history where love was more clearly visible in a human life.  His lack of money or human power was overshadowed by His love. He died powerfully clothed in love.

Success may look like living a long life and retiring well, but love is success.  Jesus did not live long and His plan for retirement here was non-existent, His “early” death was perfectly timed love.

If you want to be good at anything, be good at love.

Bud McCord

Abide International

What Love Does

There is nothing more life improving than being deeply and truly loved by someone who sees what God has in mind for us.  There is nothing that makes people better people than someone loving them back into God’s beauty.
That is what love does.

The Apostle Paul tells husbands in Ephesians 5 to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.  He tells husbands that Christ loved the church so “He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”  Love takes away the “spots”, “wrinkles” or “any such thing”  that life in this troubled world leaves on our souls.

That is what love does.

So, when I say to my wife “I love you.”, I am saying I will give her the best of me so I can one day I see the kind of beauty God intends for her . I will love her for a lifetime to remove from her mind, emotions and will the “spots” and “wrinkles” or “any such thing” that distracts from her God desired beauty.  I will love her in such a way that “spots”,  “wrinkles” or “any such thing” disappear because of my love.
That is what love does.

Love restores original beauty over time.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

The Presence of Christ

“Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
John 8:58

The Presence of Christ was "in the Beginning"

The Presence of Christ was "in the Garden of Eden"

The Presence of Christ was "in the world since the fall".

The Presence of Christ was “with God’s people In Egypt”.
 
The Presence of Christ was “with Israel in the Desert”.

The Presence of Christ was “with Israel throughout its history”.
  
The Presence of Christ “became flesh and dwelt among us”.

The Presence of Christ by the Spirit “filled the church at Pentecost”.

The Presence of Christ “abides in every believer”.

The Presence of Christ “is in me and sends me into the world to love for God's glory”.

Every good thing that has every happened to mankind is from His Presence.

Abide in His Presence right now!

Bud McCord

Abide International

Blessed to Bless

Blessed to Bless

“Then God blessed them…”
Genesis 1:28

The history of humanity begins with God blessing mankind.  It is impossible for humans to be what they were intended to be without God’s blessing.  That which comes before must bless that which comes after.

To know that we are blessed by God makes our souls rest and want to bless others.  Only God’s blessing can free us enough from our fear to truly be a blessing to others.

God blessed so they would bless.  Mankind exists to bless. Isn’t blessing others that for which we were truly made?

Jesus came to restore the blessing of God over all mankind.  To be restored humanity we must receive Jesus as God’s new blessing.  The New Testament could easily begin with “Then God blessed them again.”

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus describes what His blessing brings to us.

The Kingdom becomes ours.
We are comforted in our pain.
We are promised the earth as our inheritance.
We find our hunger for justice satisfied in God.
We find mercy in abundance to free give mercy.
We see God now.
We are called the Sons of God
The Kingdom is ours.
We will receive reward in heaven.
We become the salt of the earth.
We become the light of the world.
(See Matthew 5:1-16)

We are the blessed again ones who exist to bless again in Jesus Christ.  It is our continuous connection to Jesus that keeps us forever blessed in order to bless forever.

To abide in Christ is to live as one of the blessed.  Right now say “I am blessed again in Jesus to bless again!”  Now, go and bless again the people who make up your world this day.

“Then God blessed them….”   “Then God blessed them again”.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

When Cain Kills Abel

Everyone knows that Cain killed Abel.  Even so, have you ever considered why Cain killed Abel?

Cain’s anger was rooted in his failure to establish once and for all what God  expects of human beings.  To establish for all humans what God expects of them Cain had made his best offer to God.  Abel had made his offer as well. God accepted Abel’s offering not Cain’s.

When God affirmed Abel’s offering Cain was furious.  Cain understood establishing once and for all what men think God expects of them is the most powerful force on earth.  Cain did not want to do what God expects, Cain wanted this power over mankind.  Abel just wanted to do what God expected of men. Abel wanted to leave the power up to God.

Leaders who want the power to establish what God expects of all men become violent when they are not the final word.  They will find a way to force their view and their will on every Abel who just wants to do what God expects of us.

Jesus simply did what God expects of mankind.  For doing what God expects of us without seeking power He was persecuted and hated by the Cains of His day..  He told those who follow Him to expect the same reaction from the Cains of their day.

The Cains of the world still kill in the name of what is right for their power.  They may not even use God’s will  as their excuse but in their minds they want to tell God and every Abel how things should be.

God will take care of the Cains of he world.  As costly and dangerous as it may be to only want to do what God expects of us among the Cains of our day, we must be the people who submit to God like Jesus did.

Abel did not lose His life.  He found it.  So do we when we live Jesus.
 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Holding Visible Things Loosely

Every week we hear of a brother or sister in Christ who has been robbed while walking the streets of a Brazilian city.  Robberies are now so common that there is  a common wisdom in Brazil for how to be safely robbed.  The wisdom is  “Do not resist”.  This wisdom will save your life because the standard behavior of the thief is “Kill all who resist so others won’t.”

Jesus told His followers these things about resisting certain kinds of people.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.” Matthew 5:38-42

Was Jesus predicting situations like robberies in modern Brazilian cities?  At first glance the “don’t resist” wisdom of Brazil sounds a little like Jesus’ wisdom.  Upon deeper examination one can see that Jesus’ wisdom is not about survival or avoiding pain , it is about holding tightly to love instead of less important things.

Jesus wants His disciples to value love over survival and material things.  He also wants us to hang on tightly to Him and to love and to hold loosely everything else.

The Apostle Paul gave the early Christians this wisdom.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things  which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things  which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.  II Corin. 4:16-18

As disciples we need to understand that all visible things are in decay and any strategy to hold on to them tightly is not wise in Brazil or anywhere else.  On the other hand, all invisible things rooted in love are permanent and we must hold tightly to them even if it costs us our visible life to do so.  That is called carrying our cross.

So, here is the Jesus wisdom for all times and all places.
Hold the visible very loosely and hold your love (cross) very tightly.

And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:27

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Live Jesus Now and Forever

LIVE JESUS NOW AND FORVER

He had to come as He did (miraculous birth)
to be what He was (perfect).

He had to be what He was (perfect)
to do what He did (redeem).

He had to do what He did (redeem)
That you might have what He is (life).

You must have what He is (life)
        to be what He was (perfect).

Major W. Ian Thomas

The Gospel is 100% Jesus.  It is what He did perfectly for you.  It is what He perfectly gave you.  It is what He is perfectly in you.  All of this He perfectly did and perfectly is so you can live Him perfectly for all eternity.

“Jesus is all and is in all”.  Col. 3:11b   All he did, all He gave and all He wants to do forever through you is in you.  You will spend all of eternity receiving, rejoicing in and releasing as love all He is in you right now.

Since you have Jesus you lack nothing to live the Christian life right now. The entire Christian life is Jesus living in you right now.  All the Father expects of you is to live Jesus and all the Spirit will ever inspire you to do is live Jesus.  Live Jesus now and forever.

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

A Plan For LIfe

If you had to choose between living your own plans and God’s plan in Christ, what would be your choice?  As simple as this question sounds, it is the essence of our daily struggle as disciples of Jesus.

We must become comfortable with God’s plan in Christ.  We must become comfortable with Jesus’ perfect presence in us as being God’s plan for our life.

We have spent so much time cultivating our own plans that we truly find it strange to stop the continual planning process and rest in the singular plan that is “Christ in you the hope of glory.”

If someone were to ask you what your plan for living this day is, what would you say?  Could you honestly say your plan is to live Jesus?

To become comfortable with this kind of living just take it one day at a time.  Start today by living a plan for life that says  “ For to me to live is Christ.”.   Let living Jesus be your plan and then be ready to move at the speed of Christ.

 

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Equality

From the beginning of our lives we begin to see the many ways that we are different from other people.  In our perceptions about reality we cannot help but find ourselves feeling unequal to some people.

Some are more beautiful than we see ourselves.  Some run faster and jump farther.  Some are taller and seem  able to draw attention to themselves with ease. No matter how beautiful, how athletic or how tall, no one escapes the sense of inequality.

There is one place, however, where inequality is defeated and must bow to Jesus’ perfect presence .  This place of complete equality is described as being  “in Christ.”   To be “in Christ” is to find the one place in our reality where we can completely lay aside all fear of comparison and inequality.

Being “in Christ” is the true Christian mystery and revelation. If the words “in Christ” were truly understood by every disciple the church would once again find  its most beautiful reality and power.

Every time you see the words “in Christ” read them as “I am in eternal spiritual union with Christ.”  Whoever is in this blessed spiritual condition has found the only equality that really matters.  If we could see each other as “in Christ”, we could literally begin to live the mystery  and revelation of Christ in us which is the hope of God’s glory appearing in all of our lives.  Only through this “in Christ” equality can we demonstrate the true power of being the body of Christ in action as one.

Those who would like to create a type of Christianity that begins with those who have spiritual equality and those who do not have the same equality destroy Christianity at its core.  We would all be wise to see every believer from the moment of their new birth as “in Christ”.  Only then we correctly see them as worthy to be considered spiritually equal to us at the core of their being “in Christ.”

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

 

 

Bud McCord

Abide International

Good People

"Joe is really good people."

Having someone describe us as "good people" is an old american compliment.   Is it, however, a sign of Christian spirituality to be called "good people"?  Does Jesus in us as our source of spirituality produce a type of human being others would call "good people"?

Sometimes we create a vision of spirituality that measures activities linked to our church calendar, our private devotional time or our evangelistic proficiency.  Unfortunately being simply "good people" doesn't seem to describe much of our spirituality.

If we take a close look at Jesus' spirituality it becomes abundantly clear that He was "good people."  The impression He left wherever He walked was that pure goodness had arrived in human form.  When Jesus says "He who sees Me sees the Father", He was not speaking of His perfect attendance at the synagogue, His private devotional time or His evangelization of people.  He was speaking of the goodness of the Father that was continuously inspiring His goodness day by day.

The spirituality of Jesus was born in the presence of the Father that was abiding in Him moment by moment.  Jesus was "good people" because of the goodness of the Father that was living in Him.  Jesus' visible goodness 24/7 proved that God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

Jesus in us is the source of all of our goodness.  Jesus in us is what makes us "good people".  Jesus in a disciple will always inspire the disciple to be "good people".

Can you imagine Jesus applauding  the spirituality of one of His followers while knowing that His disciple was not "good people" in His neighborhood?  We would do well to be "good people" all the time and all the time be "good people".  "Jesus was "good people" and is "good people" in you right now

 

Bud McCord

Abide International